What drives the economy in 2025? AI, sustainability, efficiency improvement – what are the topics that will continue to make transformations in companies necessary in 2025? In our 5-part interview series, our experts from the fields of Transformation of Business, Digital, Sustainability, AI, and Work share their assessments.
Sven Hausen, Associate Partner & Senior Advisor Modern Work bei Campana & Schott
“ In 2025, many companies across various industries will need to start thinking about AI holistically. This means integrating it into AI transformation programs and roadmaps, and then gradually and incrementally realizing its potential.“
CS: Sven, the topic of Artificial Intelligence (AI) is ubiquitous. You have been advising our clients on AI transformation for some time now. What do you consider to be the most important task for companies in this context in 2025?
Sven Hausen: Generative AI has rapidly become a part of our reality. It's clear that a new phase of AI transformation has already begun. People are starting to change how they work, using AI as co-workers. Business processes are being systematically optimized with AI, and entire business models are being reinvented with generative AI. In 2025, it's crucial for companies to systematically and comprehensively unlock the potential of generative AI.
CS: Almost every company has likely considered how they can benefit from AI technology. What major trends in AI transformation do you see for 2025 that companies will need to address?
Sven Hausen: AI is an incredibly innovative field, so many topics could be considered top trends. However, if I had to pick three, I would choose the following:
Over the past few months, companies have experimented a lot with AI, conducting individual projects, especially with new generative AI and large language models. In 2025, many companies across various industries will need to start thinking about AI holistically. This means integrating it into AI transformation programs and roadmaps, and then gradually realizing its potential.
Another trend I see for this year is that companies have recognized the value of AI and now want to systematically address business-critical processes. The great thing about generative AI is that it offers so many broad potentials. This means you can find use cases in various areas, such as sales, marketing, production, and development.
And last but not least, there will be no shortage of innovation this year. Agentic AI is on everyone's lips. The FAZ headlined at the beginning of the year that 2025 would be the year of AI agents. This is a very exciting field. AI agents offer a great opportunity to approach AI creatively. In the future, entire tasks or task packages will likely be outsourced to AI agents. Work will be automated, up to autonomous work by AI agents.
CS: That sounds extremely promising. In your opinion, are there any industries that will be more affected by these developments or even benefit more than others?
Sven Hausen: In the realm of generative AI, we're fortunate that many industries can benefit from its potential. This includes the industrial sector, the service sector, and the public sector. Therefore, I wouldn't distinguish between industries at this point.
When working with companies, it really depends on how far they've come in gaining experience with generative AI. If a company has already invested heavily and built up expertise, it's much easier to leverage innovative concepts like agentic AI.
However, if I had to name one industry significantly impacted by AI technology, it would be healthcare. The enthusiasm for AI in this field is palpable. It's worth noting that the healthcare sector in Germany has faced challenges with digitalization over the past decade. Therefore, there's a great deal of hope that AI will initiate a new transformation process and open up entirely new opportunities.
CS: It sounds like a lot is happening with AI in companies everywhere. How do you think the role of AI in companies will change this year?
Sven Hausen: The pace of development is astonishing. We can already see how generative AI has transformed many aspects of our lives. The surge in user numbers when Chat GPT was launched was remarkable. Similarly, with Microsoft Copilot, we are witnessing people in various companies and sectors starting to genuinely integrate this tool into their work. Companies are increasingly focusing on optimizing their processes to harness AI for greater efficiency and to evolve their business models. Overall, it's clear that AI is becoming strategically crucial for businesses across different industries. I am confident that this trend will continue in the future.
Just as eventful as the end of 2024 was, 2025 has already started. Topics such as digitalization including AI, increasing sustainability or searching for efficiency improvement potentials on one hand but also crises, supply bottlenecks, and political uncertainties on the other hand continue to reflect the comprehensive transformations and disruptions that companies are currently operating within.
With government elections in the USA as well as those still pending here in Germany, the framework conditions for economic activities in Germany, the EU, and the world are being redefined. Resilience, agility, and innovation seem to remain core competencies that can secure companies' competitiveness.
We are interested in which challenges and trends will move companies this year. Read about it in our 5-part interview series with opinions from our experts from the fields of Transformation of Business, Digital, Sustainability, AI, and Work.
Next publication: Part 3 – Work Transformation
For further reading:
Part 1 – Business Transformation
